Chrome Now Accounts For 55% of All Web Browsing (hothardware.com) 113
Google's Chrome browser "now accounts for more than half of all desktop browser usage and has nearly double the market share of Edge and Internet Explorer combined," reports Hot Hardware:
Market research firm Net Applications has Chrome sitting pretty with a 54.99% share of the desktop browser market, up from 31.12% at this moment a year ago, while Internet Explorer and Edge combine for 28.39 percent and Firefox stuck at around 11%. Even more interesting is that when Windows 10 launched to the public at the end of July 2015, Chrome had a 27.82% share of the market while IE still dominated the landscape with a 54% share. Now the script has flipped.
Just six months ago, the same research firm reported Chrome with a 41.66%, share barely beating Microsoft's 41.35%.
Just six months ago, the same research firm reported Chrome with a 41.66%, share barely beating Microsoft's 41.35%.
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LOL autocorrect sorry
Ah Hell Google!
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Honestly, right? The only reason why goog made chrome was to suck up everybody's browser history. I use safari and Firefox. I don't install toolbars. And my default search engine is DuckDuckGo. Too bad goog, you lose this round!
Re:all your searches are belong to us (Score:4, Insightful)
I think Google made Chrome was to help drive the internet the way they wanted it to go (you can take that however you want). Google is a company that depends entirely on internet technology to supply their services. I'd guess they weren't comfortable leaving that client-side connectivity to their services in the hands of other companies, some of them competitors. So, I believe that by creating their own browser, they were attempting to control their own destiny rather than leaving it to middlemen.
We see today Google using Chrome to experiment with new web technologies to improve connection speed via new standards extensions, advanced security issues, research projects, ensure standards compliance, and many other things. To me, I see it as a same way a company that makes products with Linux installed on it would probably make contributions to the Linux kernel. Not altruistic, certainly, but also not nefarious.
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Google and Alphabet are gigantic shareholder corporations whose main goal is to increase profit, share value, market penetration, and so forth.
Yes, and you also just described nearly every for-profit corporation in the world.
Google makes much money by selling end-user data to advertisers.
Actually, you don't even have that correct. Google sells advertising services, but not people's personal data. And you completely missed my point anyhow.
Google created Chrome and gives it away because it helps users get to their services, which in turm drives eyeballs to their real business of selling online advertising. In other words, it's known as a business driver [google.com]. It has jack-all to do with "advancement of free and op
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I think Google made Chrome was to help drive the internet the way they wanted it to go (you can take that however you want).
Amusingly, before Chrome browser existed, Google funded Mozilla pretty heavily. So their motives haven't changed - just their execution. Chrome was essentially using webkit earlier, then forked off it's own engine (blink).
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See that second sentence of my post? That's me agreeing with you. My bad for assuming everyone here understood what Google's services actually are and how they operate. I'll make sure to state it very clearly in each Google-related post so you don't assume I'm a bloody ignoramus.
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What digital restrictions management is there in Chrome other than HTML5 EME (which can be turned off) and the DRM in Flash Player (which can also be turned off)?
Re:bing (Score:5, Funny)
Obviously Firefox needs to be made to look even more like Chrome.
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If Firefox would change their application icon to match Chrome's and would label it "Google Chrome", they'd see a rapid rise in market share.
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Maybe, but for me the main problem with Microsoft is that Edge is a decent render engine, but more a demo than a complete browser. They released it too early, before it was ready. Edge is slowly becoming a competitive browser, but in the mean time people are changing to Chrome.
Windows browser? (Score:2)
What's a good Windows browser for people who don't want Google/Microsoft spying on them?
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How does Chrome spy on you? I keep hearing this but so far no one can point to packet logs showing such behavior. I dumped Firefox years ago when they started adding features for shits and giggles instead of improving things like speed or reliability.
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I don't know. I'm asking. Maybe the answer is "Chrome". It would be good to know. I'm getting tired of Firefox.
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Palemoon is just an outdated Firefox build without the Australis interface.
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What's a good Windows browser for people who don't want Google/Microsoft spying on them?
I think the answer is in the question. I don't know that you can avoid spying from Microsoft being on Windows...
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Sure you can, though if you're on Windows 10 you may have other things to worry about. On older versions, you can disable or remove all the dubious phone-home behaviours, or just install something like Spybot Anti-Beacon and let it turn everything off for you, and then Microsoft will be none the wiser whichever browser (including IE) you choose to use.
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Use FireFox or Palemoon to at least not relinquish all the control to big corporations.
Re:Windows browser? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Sigh
Firefox I guess. The good news is with electrosys it has caught up to 2009 IE 8 and Chrome 1.0 in terms of security by using lowrights in c:\users\%appdata and threading per process which is nice if you have more than 1 cpu core which is everyone but grandma here in 2016.
But it is too little too late for me personally to use Firefox again, but try it as the newer versions supposed to be caught up.
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Chromium. It's Chrome without Google.
I literally feel physically ill when I use any bro (Score:1)
wser today.
They are so obviously and completely designed to maximize the number of search queries made by accident, or by luring users into this. I've gone to great lengths to remove ALL fucking "smart prediction" bullshit and "search fields" and all of that, but they keep resetting the settings, or invent new BS, or remove existing about:config preferences, etc. I don't wanna deal with all this fucking BS all the time.
Chrome... Firefox... Edge... they are all the same. And the only "alternatives" are like
Because edge sucks! (Score:2)
IE is a better browser. I can't believe I wrote that but Edge is crash and misses things like favorites. Has MS added it yet?
I always put X-UA-Compatible in Css to force edge to use IE so I do not have to work around bugs.
So my guess is those who think the blue E for internet out of habit upgraded to 10 they found a web which was broken and switched
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Edge is yet another brand we have to test UI's with. There are two Microsoft browsers now, and they both suck. (Insert my usual rant about fat-client-version-hell.)
Re: Because edge sucks! (Score:2)
Just put that tag I listed above.
Eventually I will start to use Edge html 5.1 features, but for now it's too cutting edge and changing and a small percentage.
But users hate it. IE got Ok by version 9 for Joe Six pack and Ok by IE 10 for developers. Not great but it did it's job. Edge gives me subscription errors with AdBlock and crashes when I loaded it. It feels alpha quality and made for phones. Not pcs. IE 11 is still part of 10. I replaced edge and put an IE icon on the taskbar to test things.
X-UA-Compa
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Yeah, I hate Edge. I'd rather use IE11.
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I always put X-UA-Compatible in Css to force edge to use IE so I do not have to work around bugs.
What CSS works in IE11 (and presumably Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc) but does not work in Edge?
complacency and feedback (Score:3)
Chome's dominance is not surprising. The number one way to lose users is to complacently enjoy the lead you have over your competitors and ignore user feedback. Microsoft and Mozilla are both experts are ignoring user feedback and both enjoyed large leads while they diverted resources. Chrome can also be defeated by a competitor that offers something better that they don't want to or refuse to provide. Frankly, I would like to see a fork of Chromium that focuses on privacy, ad blocking and script blocking (I don't like random scripts running on my machine). These are things Google wouldn't want to provide, so this could be how Chrome slips back to a 5% user share.
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Frankly, I would like to see a fork of Chromium that focuses on privacy, ad blocking and script blocking (I don't like random scripts running on my machine). These are things Google wouldn't want to provide, so this could be how Chrome slips back to a 5% user share.
There are numerous forks of Chromium focusing on privacy already. I'm surprised you've never heard of any of them. They don't get used very much because they aren't as helpful or featurful as the real Chrome and most people just want to browse the web quickly and securely which Chrome does very well.
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Care to name a few? I wouldn't mind using one of them it is was decently maintained. Google has been getting pretty arrogant lately. Oh, it would be really nice if the fork allowed disabling the per-tab close buttons, which Google refuses to do in Chrome.
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Well I for one am so pissed off by Google dropping support for Chrome on 32 bit Linux computers. I use Chromium but its not as good as Chrome as there is way better video support (especially embedded video support) on Chrome. As a result, I find myself using FF more these days
My two bits
Chrome Sucks (Score:2)
I don't know about the rest of slashdot readers, but from my point of view, Chrome is a great browser for apathetic users who don't have very sophisticated expectations in terms of extensibility and privacy features. With Firefox you have a much richer selection of add-ons and other niceties like, for instance, the ability to synchronize your data to your own server, rather than being entirely dependent on someone's so-called "cloud". Whereas Mozilla remains committed to a decentralized web, Google has ma
Re:Chrome Sucks -- Try Iridium (Score:1)
Look for a well supported Chromium-based browser: I tried **Iridium Browser** (https://iridiumbrowser.de).
They claim adherence to German data protection standards, as well as having an reproducible and audible build process.
There might be other Chromium-based browsers, too, but with that one I'm quite happy for some months now....
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That doesn't sound like a Chrome problem that sounds like something wrong with your computer. Possibly drivers. Try reinstalling Windows/Linux and see if it gets better.
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Nothing like that ever happens to me, even though I have 40 tabs open and am using a dinosaur low-end 2011 PC.
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I don't know about the rest of slashdot readers, but from my point of view, Chrome is a great browser for apathetic users who don't have very sophisticated expectations in terms of extensibility and privacy features. With Firefox you have a much richer selection of add-ons and other niceties like, for instance, the ability to synchronize your data to your own server, rather than being entirely dependent on someone's so-called "cloud". Whereas Mozilla remains committed to a decentralized web, Google has managed to progressively blur the lines between browser and web property.
I suppose Chrome is not as horrific as whatever Facebook might come up with if they ever decided to make a browser, but that's not saying much for Chrome. I'm a user of many Google products, but when it comes to browsers I'll be sticking with the content-neutral product that prioritizes my freedom and privacy - Firefox!
Well everyone is different.
To me I want a fast browser that is secure and takes advantage of my hardware and syncs up everything with all platforms. Chrome is it! Both modern IE and Chrome use threading per tab which means under Windows it uses c"\users\%appdata\lowrights. It is sandboxed at the kernel level! It also means my i7 can utilize all my cores with both browsers by MS and Google.
Firefox keeps getting hacked as a result and I do not want to run workarounds for this architectural limit with sandboxi
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I use Firefox on my Android smartphone because it supports Ublock/Adblock.
Am I the Only One Not Okay With This? (Score:5, Interesting)
Quick check: am I the only person not okay with Chrome overtaking the browser market?
Though I am greatly appreciative of breaking up the homoogenous (and semi-proprietary) web that IE left us with, I'm afraid we've replaced one devil with an even greater devil. Now the most widely used browser is developed by a company whose very existence is dependent on user profiling and advertising sales.
Google borders on being anti-user these days. The web they create is technically advanced, but it's also one that's been optimized to deliver ads, to strip control from users in the name of simplicity and to support Google's revenue stream. It gives Google an incredible amount of power - more than anyone else ever before - as they have laid the groundwork to see exactly what their customers are doing on the Web. That's a power I fear they're not capable of wielding wisely anymore.
At least MS just wanted to sell you a copy of Windows every few years; Google wants to sell you each and every day to the highest bidder.
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The day Chrome prevents ad-blocking is the day they lose their dominant market share. Personally I'm very pleased with the new devil, because this devil is cross-platform and well-maintained. The problem with MSIE's dominance was that it didn't work on Linux and it was for a long time basically abandonware holding back progress and making web developers waste tons of time.
no thanks (Score:4, Insightful)
Chrome:
* Closed Source: Check!
* Closed Development: Check!
* Google Spyware: Check!
* Most Restricted UI: Check!
Edge/IE are even worse because they only run on MS-Windows. No thanks, I will continue to use Firefox. Open source, open development, most addons. That doesn't mean Firefox doesn't have its issues... the biggest of which is TRYING TO TURN INTO CHROME!
Re:no thanks (Score:4, Insightful)
>"And yet, none of the ways it is "trying to turn into chrome" are on your list of the 4 reasons to avoid chrome. So, what exactly is the problem?"
With Mozilla/Firefox? That they keep removing and hiding things in the UI trying to make it so-called "clean" like Chrome. Then, worse, changing stuff and then removing the options to revert the changes. Now you have to load an addon (Classic Theme Restorer) to get some of the stuff back. Want a specific example? How about tabs-on-bottom, like they are supposed to be. Then there is all the crap they DO add that we don't want... like "hello" and "developer view" and "pocket"; all things that should clearly be addons.
The UI problem with Chrome is the arrogance of the design along with the lack of user choice. The lack of control is infamous and runs through all Google's apps and Android too (IOS is the same way). Firefox was never that way until Chrome came on the scene and then Firefox started mimicking Chrome more and more. That is my big beef with Mozilla/Firefox.
I don't want "clean" menus.
I don't want "hamburger" menus.
I don't want auto-hiding scrollbars.
I don't want tabs on the top.
I don't want the browser "refreshing" my settings.
I don't want frequent site icons cluttering my blank newpage.
I don't want my option for the addon bar removed.
I don't want inactive tabs not looking like a tab.
And, yet, I still think Firefox is the "best" browser for all the reasons I have previously stated. One thing is for sure- it is nice to have choices. The idea of any one browser taking over and becoming the de-facto again is truly repulsive. I look at Chrome and hope it is not just the new "IE."
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Is there much of a difference? I am certainly not alone. In fact, what I am saying mirrors the complaints of many thousands of people that post on Slashdot and in many other places.
"Turning into Chrome" means different things to different people, but in general it means:
1) Removing user control of the UI, less user choice and preference.
2) Minimizing the UI, making it harder to use and customize.
3) Ignoring or resisting what the user base wants.
Chrome is a fast, multiplatform browser. And I am glad it ex
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If you are referring to Firefox, it is apparent you haven't really used it/compared in years, then. Most benchmarks show that the current versions of Firefox are close to Chrome in performance for most metrics, beating it in some.
As much damage as Chrome has done to Firefox (in user base and in causing Mozilla to start mimicking the UI), the best thing it did do was to put pressure on Mozilla to improve Firefox's performance. For that, we are all grateful :)
I knew the tide was turning last year when I sta
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>Closed source and closed development? Did we forget about Chromium, which is in Debian?
Nope. Didn't forget about it at all. For one, we are talking about Chrome, not Chromium. Chrome is closed on both fronts. Chromium is open source, but that is not what people are using- I would guess the ratio is about 99+% Chrome and less than 1% Chromium as far as installations go. And just because Chrome is based on Chromium, that doesn't mean it is using that code. Google puts whatever they like in Chrome an
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* Google Spyware: Check!
Any reference?
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>"Any reference?"
I will admit I am yelling "fire" without seeing the flames. My bad, and I should probably tone it down.
Here is an example of what can happen: http://arstechnica.com/securit... [arstechnica.com] It shows just how easy it can be for them to insert something that can be abused.
The real danger is that with a binary-only, closed-source browser like Chrome, there is really no easy way know what it is doing behind-the-scenes or what backdoors it might have for them or governments. It is probably harder to pr
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Or pretend to be Chrome? (Score:1)
I wonder how many browsers pretend to be Chrome for one reason or another? My Firefox browser identifies as Chrome to get it to work properly with Netflix. My Qupzilla browser IDs as Chrome to avoid compatibility issues. Just about every browser I use or set up for people ID themselves as Chrome because otherwise people see an endless stream of "We recommend you update your browser" nag messages.
SImple reason its not firefox: group policy (Score:4, Insightful)
I would love to make firefox the default browser in my company. However mozilla has zero interest in that. While chrome provides MSI's and group policy templates to tie the whole thing together, enforce custom settings, etc.
Firefox how to deploy faq: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Deplo... [mozilla.org] (note the two most important links are broken and defunct)
google how to deploy faq: https://support.google.com/chr... [google.com] (and many other webpages, but you dont even need instructions because its teh same as every other well designed software package from a major corporation)
Its been like this for literally years. Mozilla simply does not care about centralized policy management or deployment.
Firefox is the best web browser by far and much more stable, and less ram hungry than chrome, so its sad for me. Until i can push out adblock and firefox with a customized home page in 30 minutes to 200 workstations its not going to be standard on my network.
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I would love to make firefox the default browser in my company. However mozilla has zero interest in that.
It is clear that Microsoft has some sort of plant inside of Mozilla. How else could Mozilla be so utterly stupid after people like me lifted them up and got Firefox installed on US Government computers as well as within numerous other organizations. Going directly against what your users want (UI)? Changing add-on behaviour so that noscript is as useless on Firefox as it is on Chrome? Violating the base concepts that the browser was built on (lean and mean) Whatever. This goose is cooked. Stick a fork in it
Chrome is shit (Score:2)
I strictly reserve it for things that don't work in Firefox. BTW, if anyone knows how you can directly open a link in Chrome from Firefox I'd be very interested to hear it. By directly I mean not copy-pasting the url.
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I haven't used it, but it looks like there's a Firefox add-on for that: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-... [mozilla.org]
I want browsers to be browsers... (Score:2)
...and search engines to be search engines, and both to know that neither is the other, and when I'm typing something on the screen I expect it to remain on that part of the screen and not jump somewhere else.
And I'd really like to be able to right-click on a link and have an "Open with..." option that offers my choice of all the browsers I have installed, and I'd like to be able to highlight and right click and be offered my choice of search engines.
Why just look at desktop numbers? (Score:2)
Given how common mobile internet access is nowadays, it seems funny to place such an artificial restriction on this discussion. Does expanding it to include mobile access ruin the narrative somehow? It doesn't seem like it should...
Chrome took the users? Who'd a thunk it? (Score:2)
Even more interesting is that when Windows 10 launched to the public at the end of July 2015, Chrome had a 27.82% share of the market while IE still dominated the landscape with a 54% share. Now the script has flipped.
That's not interesting.
People hate Edge's interface, much like they hate any other Metro-esque vague UX Microsoft has shat out lately.
When people installed Windows 10 (I say that like they had a choice, haha), they suddenly found the familiar blue "e" on the taskbar did not open their familiar Internet Explorer. Rather then use Edge they went looking for a replacement. Chrome has the world's most popular search engine marketing it every chance it gets, so it's what people will end up with.
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New monoculture (Score:2)
Browser world problems (Score:1)
Browsers can be frustrating. In my experience, _all_ of them have _some_ issues. Currently I use Firefox for "light" browsing and Chrome for media browsing, because I feel that both lack in some areas.
Firefox:
+ Ideologically I'd like to use Firefox only instead of MS browsers and Chrome.
+ Separate search bar instead of an omnibar.
+ Tab opening and closing behaviour (always closing to the next-to-the-right tab is nice).
+ Most accurate URL suggestions based on bookmarks and history.
+ browser.tabs.loadD